1. Field
Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communication systems, and at least some aspects pertain more particularly to methods and devices for facilitating a determination of service capabilities for a user equipment in a particular cell, and for displaying the service capabilities to a user.
2. Background
Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasts, and so on. Such networks, which are usually multiple access networks, support communications for multiple users by sharing the available network resources. Over time, wireless communication networks have evolved from analog voice-centric networks to digital voice and data networks.
As wireless communication networks have progressed with offering digital voice and data, such networks continue to provide increasing data rates and/or bandwidths to wireless communications. With the increases in data rates and/or bandwidths, wireless communication networks have also increased the capabilities available to users. For example, with the jump from 2nd generation (2G) wireless communication networks to 3rd generation (3G) wireless communication networks, additional capabilities have been made available to users, such as wide-area wireless voice telephone, mobile Internet access, video calls and mobile TV, all in a mobile environment. With the evolution from 3G networks to 4th generation (4G) wireless communication networks, additional capabilities have been made available to users, such as ultra-broadband Internet access, IP telephony, gaming services, and streamed multimedia.
As these technologies have advanced, many user equipments (UEs) are enabled to employ two or more different generations of wireless communication network technologies. As a result, a UE may provide different capabilities to the user based on what technologies are available in a particular geographic location at a particular time. For example, a UE that is adapted to operate using 3G and 4G enabled wireless communication networks may have access to 4G-associated capabilities in one geographic location at a given time during the day, but may have access only to 3G-associated capabilities in another geographic location and/or at a different time of the day.
It would be beneficial to users of such UEs to be made aware of what capabilities are available at any given time and location.